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Dwayne Harris “pressing,” says special teams coach Tom Quinn

“I think he has pressed too much at times”

NFL: Chicago Bears at New York Giants
Dwayne Harris returning a kickoff against the Bears.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier Friday, Dan Pizzuta took an in-depth look at the New York Giants’ struggles in the kick return game. As luck would have, it, Giants’ special teams coordinator Tom Quinn was asked Friday about return man Dwayne Harris, and he indicated that Harris is “pressing.”

“I think he has pressed too much at times, tried to make too much happen. He made some poor decisions on fielding the ball which is something that we can’t have. I think he just presses and wants to do so much. I think last year he played a lot of offense, so it wasn’t as much of an issue, but there is a little too much pressing.”

Harris is averaging a career-low 6.8 yards on punt returns, and his 25.6-yard average on kickoff returns is 3.1 yards below the 28.7 he averaged a year ago.

Harris caught a career-high 36 passes a season ago. With Victor Cruz, Sterling Shepard and the emergence of Roger Leiws Jr., he has not had a role in the offense this season. He has played only 31 offensive snaps and has yet to have a pass thrown in his direction.

Quinn said he wants Harris to “ just relax and let the game come to you.”

About those missed extra points

Placekicker Robbie Gould missed a pair of extra points on Sunday, which Quinn attributed to “wind and ball striking.”

“You see it around the League, and I think that when that rule came out (moving the ball back from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line), we were all concerned about a day like that in the stadium,” Quinn said. “As it gets into November and December and it gets windy, that stadium holds wind better than the old stadium, so we have to do a better job of striking the ball, so that it doesn’t move as much.”